Stuart Miles Zellmer of Charlottesville, Virginia, died on April 1, 2020 after a long bout with cancer. He was the son of the late Amil William Zellmer and Ruth Cole Zellmer of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, where he was born on November 26, 1933.
Stu, as he was known to his friends, attended Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in speech and elementary education. Following three years of service as an officer in the United States Air Force, he returned to the University of Wisconsin and completed a Master of Arts degree in counselor education in 1963.
Stu’s professional career included two years as an elementary teacher in the Madison, Wisconsin public schools, five years as Director of East Quadrangle in the residence halls system of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and twenty years as Director of Residence Halls at the University of Rochester, New York. Following his retirement in 1988, he relocated to Charlottesville, where he served for ten years as Office Manager for the AIDS Services Group.
Regularly active in community organizations, Stu was a twenty-year member of Rochester’s Third Presbyterian Church and its chancel choir. He sang for seventeen years with the Rochester Bach Festival Chorus, and was also active in musical theater in the Rochester area for many years. As a resident of Charlottesville, he continued his lifelong participation in choral music. He was a charter member of The Virginia Consort, and served as its president for several years. He sang with the Consort for twenty years, and remained an enthusiastic supporter of that organization until his death.
Stu’s life partner of thirty-six years, Gary Sibbald of Charlottesville, predeceased him in August of 2015. Other immediate family survivors include Steven Paul Zellmer and his wife, Claire Emery, of Missoula, Montana, and his children, William Josef Zellmer of Denver, Colorado and Claire Elizabeth Zellmer, of Tacoma, Washington; and son Peter David Zellmer, his wife, Claudine Hollman Zellmer, and their children, Kellen Quinn Zellmer and Keira Shea Zellmer, of Dallas, Texas.
In accordance with Stu’s wishes, no memorial service is scheduled. A celebratory gathering in his memory may be arranged at a later date at the convenience of the family. Memorial contributions may be made to The Virginia Consort or Hospice of the Piedmont.
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